COVID-19 in your part of the world

[BIL]

This nugget was interesting. Not sure how reliable the results are (probably not), but it infers that bad Covid cases lower your IQ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... 702200147X

It's true, I got the Chinese Bat AIDS and became 1000x more retarded than I was before. On the plus side, my enhanced tard strength let me get a ton of gardening done while working from home, and now my front lawn looks spectacular.

[TransatlanticFoe]

It's one to not take too much notice of at the moment - it's a paper meant as academic stimulus and states outright at the start. It's a tough thing to quantify, plus you don't really have a control group against the various pandemic lockdown measures. It's also a small sample group and is taken from the beginning of the pandemic - where patients were routinely being treated incorrectly (anti-inflammatory steroids were found to drastically reduce mortality - before that patients were being treated as though the viral load was overwhelming). As with the unhelpfully vague "long covid", it's hard to say what's generic of many other viruses, what's related to other pandemic stimulus (or lack thereof) and what's simply as a result of poor early treatment (and as with anything, what's unrelated unknown coincidence).

[EmperorIng]

"long covid"

aka "the thing we'll use to keep scaring sheep as long as we can milk this"

[xxx1993]

I'm hearing rumors on the news that there might be a possible fifth COVID wave and a spike this fall... I seriously hope that isn't the case. Not when we're this close...

[Mischief Maker]

"long covid"

aka "the thing we'll use to keep scaring sheep as long as we can milk this"

What milk?

Covid has been nothing but a drain on the economy and the death of approval ratings for politicians in power ever since it arrived.

[emphatic]

Who here still wears a mask, raise your hands.

[Mischief Maker]

Who here still wears a mask, raise your hands.

I do.

Not because I'm afraid of covid, but because by day job is being a ninja.

[BulletMagnet]

Who here still wears a mask, raise your hands.

In places where I don't know if everyone's been vaccinated, yup, still keep one in the car to pop on when needed.

[BIL]

I wore the mask until this started happening. 3;

[ZacharyB]

It's been 2 years. I can't fathom what it's like to go outside and not wear one. I only wear a taped up sub mask when I go to work, though, which is in a grocery store.

I keep wondering if I should've gotten the second booster shot, before they removed the free access.

[o.pwuaioc]

Who here still wears a mask, raise your hands.

Pretty sure surgical masks are next to useless at prevention, though I do want to highlight one particular thing. Masks reduce viral load. Even crappy surgical ones can help. Viral load seems to play a huge role in how severe COVID is. This explains why all the doctors and nurses were dying at first---they were being exposed to a huge amount of the virus at once.

I still mandate masks at work, both clients and employees, though I'm lax about enforcing it on the latter in their own spaces. What's much more proven to work is well-ventilated areas and filtering systems.

But besides COVID, masks also help against other viruses, so I wear one on the subway anyway. It's been nice avoiding seasonal colds, when I used to get them twice to thrice a year.

[Ed Oscuro]

very late to this party but I think a lot of people will be surprised to find it's not primarily a respiratory disease, which explains the blood clots and so on
https://www.euronews.com/2021/05/06/cov ... says-study

and yes, getting it once is bad; every additional bout is an additional chance of it fucking you up something nasty. be safe out there

[Udderdude]

https://www.who.int/news/item/05-05-202 ... 0-and-2021

15 million dead.

[Ed Oscuro]

1 million of that (officially) here in the US. What a time to still be alive.

[evil_ash_xero]

I've had it now for about 10 days. My mom has had it for about 7. She took Paxlovid, which was hard on her.
We're still both testing positive, and have coughs. Not sure when this is gonna go away.
My sense of taste has been diminished. I would say the first 3 days were hard, with a 101 F temp. Lots of body aches. After that, it's just been like a
lingering flu. It's not that bad, but it won't go away.
I try to wear N95 masks whenever I pick up mail or groceries. Honestly, though, I think everyone is gonna get this at some point. I guess it matters
how many people die from it, that's the problem.
I was pretty terrified when mom got it, as she's 77. But she seems to have weathered it well (I'm sure the Paxlovid helped a lot).

[TransatlanticFoe]

More than 10 days testing positive is unusual in a vaccinated individual with no relevant pre-existing medical conditions but probably nothing to worry about if symptoms are staying the same rather than getting worse. Useful recent discussion on infectious periods here:

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-02026-x

5 days was fine when it was backed up with negative tests - but as soon as free tests went in the UK, so did that recommendation. Now, there's no messaging even on staying away from people if you're ill. I got it at the start of June, diagnosed with the last test I had - so decided to treat it like a standard cold (7-10 days duration). I was staying indoors until either 7 days or end of symptoms, whichever happened last. In reality, I had a sore throat for a day (tested negative), 2 days largely sleeping (tested positive), 1 day feeling okay but a bit tired. For the next 5 days, I had the occasional cough if I needed to speak for any length of time (including one which sent all the muscles in my torso into spasm, which lit up all my pain receptors and for about 2 seconds wondered if I was about to die - which was fun!). Except for the epic coughing fit, that's largely par for the course for a cold so I did a food shop after 7 days.

[bottino]

No1 baby

Spoiler

[drauch]

We're still crushing it with total deaths. Over a million in the states. From what I saw, Brazil is close-ish to 700K. Freedom 2 die.

[GaijinPunch]

I had to show a vax card at an SF restaurant with appallingly bad service. Ironically I cannot get another booster, and my last one is arguably done protecting me.

[bottino]

We're still crushing it with total deaths. Over a million in the states. From what I saw, Brazil is close-ish to 700K. Freedom 2 die.

Yeah, although the real number is likely much high higher due to the massive number of underreported Covid deaths here. Having 3% of world's population and yet responding to 13% of world's Covid deaths wasn't the result of governmental mismanagement, but rather an official policy enforced to spread the virus among the population even after vaccines were made available.

I had to show a vax card at an SF restaurant with appallingly bad service. Ironically I cannot get another booster, and my last one is arguably done protecting me.

How long since your last booster shot?
I'm due getting my second booster now, finally (first one was in late February).

[GaijinPunch]

How long since your last booster shot?

I got it at the end of November.

[vol.2]

blah. I got Covid again. Was pretty awful last night, but feeling a little better today. I am able to regulate my body temperature and stuff now. I had to go out and move my car earlier to avoid getting a ticket, and I felt completely wiped out when I got home, so I guess it's lingering a bit.

At least I don't seem to have any issues with taste or smell. I was worried about that one.

[Sengoku Strider]

blah. I got Covid again. Was pretty awful last night, but feeling a little better today. I am able to regulate my body temperature and stuff now. I had to go out and move my car earlier to avoid getting a ticket, and I felt completely wiped out when I got home, so I guess it's lingering a bit.

At least I don't seem to have any issues with taste or smell. I was worried about that one.

Have you tried vibrating harder?



(Get well, covid sucks)

[vol.2]

blah. I got Covid again. Was pretty awful last night, but feeling a little better today. I am able to regulate my body temperature and stuff now. I had to go out and move my car earlier to avoid getting a ticket, and I felt completely wiped out when I got home, so I guess it's lingering a bit.

At least I don't seem to have any issues with taste or smell. I was worried about that one.

Have you tried vibrating harder?

dude. i think i'll hold off on that until i feel better

(Get well, covid sucks)

thanks!

[Udderdude]

COVID still fucking up anime schedules, big time. https://www.siliconera.com/uncle-from-a ... m-october/

[bottino]

blah. I got Covid again. Was pretty awful last night, but feeling a little better today. I am able to regulate my body temperature and stuff now. I had to go out and move my car earlier to avoid getting a ticket, and I felt completely wiped out when I got home, so I guess it's lingering a bit.

At least I don't seem to have any issues with taste or smell. I was worried about that one.

Wishing you a speedy recovery. Don't forget to keep your eyes open for long covid symptoms.

And while we're at it, the Permanent Peoples' Tribunal found brazilian president bolsonaro guilty of crimes against humanity for Covid19 measures.

It's not the Hague, but we're getting there.

[Leandro]

I tested positive for covid today. It is awful even after 4 doses of vaccine.
The symptoms started Friday and are persistent so I'm feeling destroyed since it's already Monday here. Headache, fever, appettite loss, sore throat. At least my system is keeping what I'm able to eat.

Well, reading BIL's post about his frontlawn looking spectacular now made me feel a little better, that was a good laugh

[GaijinPunch]

COVID still fucking up anime schedules, big time. https://www.siliconera.com/uncle-from-a ... m-october/

Pandemic still raging strong in Japan.

[vol.2]

Pandemic still raging strong in Japan.

Considering the age of the population, it's a miracle that the death rate isn't higher

[GaijinPunch]

Pandemic still raging strong in Japan.

Considering the age of the population, it's a miracle that the death rate isn't higher

I've been in this debate many, many times over the pandemic. A local friend here (also an ex-expat) and I have differing views. He's pretty bullshit on long-term Japan, I'm bearish. But also remember that our experiences were quite different - he's single, no kids and no desire. Me, the complete opposite including dissolving a marriage there which I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.

Sometimes he would invoke that the draconian measures that were invoked to keep out Americans worked [despite a lot of damage]. I simply drew the same conclusion I draw when it comes to the long lifespan - Japanese are just healthier than most other people, especially Americans. We know that Covid indiscriminately targeted the obese, and Japan just doesn't have that demographic in large numbers. Elderly of course, are everywhere, but I'll go out on a limb and say they're generally healthier than our elderly (eg many carying for themselves well into their 80s) and the population in general had absolutely zero qualms about masking up. Life there has always been very different than the west, and during Covid was no exception. I'm sure there's not one definitive thing that set them apart - it was all of it.

EDIT:
I always knew that Polynesia had a reputation for being big-boned but fuck me, they take the cake.